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Supermarkets slash fuel prices but motorists ‘still being fleeced’

Britain’s biggest supermarkets are cutting the cost of diesel and unleaded by 2p per litre amid claims that it’s “too little and too late”.

Britain's biggest supermakets slash 2p a litre off the cost of fuel

The latest price cuts by Britain’s biggest supermakets slash 2p a litre off the cost of fuel

The cuts, which are all now effective, were kicked off by Asda, which introduced a new national price cap that brings diesel down to 106.7ppl and unleaded down to 105.7ppl at all its 272 petrol stations, with Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons then implementing fuel price cuts.

The announcements follow criticism that a fall in wholesale fuel prices is not being passed on.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams commented: “We wonder how long motorists would have had to wait for a decent forecourt cut had the RAC not drawn attention to the fact that wholesale fuel costs had reduced substantially in the last month.”

The FairFuelUK Campaign said that drivers were still “being fleeced”, adding that there is still no sign of most of the fuel supply chain passing on the recent reduced oil prices and published wholesale falls to UK motorists.

Since the EU Referendum FairFuelUK estimates that over £400m has been held back by “unprincipled fuel suppliers out of consumer spending and the consequential benefit to the economy”.

Howard Cox, founder of the campaign, said: “Our campaign supporters from UK motorists, hauliers and small businesses across the UK are incensed that in the five weeks since the EU Referendum, significant falls in fuel wholesale prices have been ignored by retailers. We are told by some garage owners that they should not be blamed, as they are not getting these published wholesale numbers and are being overcharged by as much as 6 pence per litre. So who is fleecing the motorist? What is the truth? It really is time for the Government to investigate the opaque pricing process at the pumps.”

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Natalie Middleton

Natalie has worked as a fleet journalist for over 20 years, previously as assistant editor on the former Company Car magazine before joining Fleet World in 2006. Prior to this, she worked on a range of B2B titles, including Insurance Age and Insurance Day.